Wednesday, February 18, 2009

The Silence of the Speech Warriors™





















My alma mater, not so alma in my eyes at the moment, has just banned the poster reproduced here from display during Israeli Apartheid Week. This is just the latest example of the suppression of pro-Palestinian voices on Canadian campuses.

The poster is provocative, certainly, although not in the same league as the Holocaust porn being peddled by the "pro-life" folks at the moment. Carleton University's administration, however, believes that the "image could be seen to incite others to infringe rights protected in the Ontario human rights code." For the life of me, I can't see how. As a reader of mine notes, "If it's OK for a cartoon to depict Mohammed as a terrorist, what's wrong with this?"

My goodness. A campus ban on free expression. Even a tasty mention of a "human rights code!" Tailor-made for the Speech Warriors™, and they've boldly leapt into action...

Er, no.

Perhaps they're still tired after orgiastic late-night partying to celebrate the punishment of the Canadian Arab Federation because its leader called Jason Kenney a name.


[H/t reader "forgottobuytinfoil]

UPDATE: (February 19) More. And the Western Standard's Terrence Watson rises to the challenge. (But he's different.)

And do check out Kateland's riposte at Dust My Broom. I'd like to respond, but I'm banned there.* Suffice it to say that her account is flawed in a number of respects: it uses dubious testimony, and incidents elsewhere, to justify the suppression of a poster on the campus of Carleton University. One doesn't have to be a free speech absolutist to see where that kind of argument leads us.

UPPERDATE: Silent no more. Speech Warrior™ Deborah Gyapong is outraged. Shorter Gyapong: "The CBC calls this a free speech issue? But...but...the human rights commissions!"
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*Whoops--it was cross-posted from her place, which is where I shall respond.

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